Astrophotographer Ted Wolfe has successfully moved his telescope from Naples to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The entire set-up is now operated from here in the U.S., but the scope itself is in Chile. His pictures of colliding galaxies, dying stars, supernovas, glowing nebulas, etc., are published in the leading national magazines in the field of astronomy. Exhibits of his pictures have appeared in numerous science museums, universities and institutions -- including a 20-month show featuring a large number of his images at the Kennedy Space Center. A full collection of his pictures are on permanent display at the Center for Space Studies at the University of Florida.

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Here is a captivating object: the swirling spiral galaxy known to astronomers as "The Spanish Dancer." Fittingly, it lies extremely south of the border in the warm summer skies of Chile.

Its official name is NGC 1566, and it is found in the constellation of Doradus, the dolphin fish. It is part of a large group of galaxies down there called the Dorado Group.

This gravitationally bound collection of galaxies travels through the universe together. Astronomers have identified 46 members of the group, and have "circled" another 34 as candidates or possible members.

The dominant member of the Dorado Group is the Spanish Dancer itself. It is an "SAB" type of galaxy which means it is betwixt and between a barred galaxy and a non-barred galaxy.

We can recall that a barred galaxy has a central bar running right through its center, connecting its main arms. Looking closely at the Dancer we can see that such a bar has almost formed.

More interesting is that it is a Seyfert galaxy. Seyferts are characterized by having an extremely active core. The Dancer's core is very luminous as we can see in the image here. It is actively emitting radiation from a relatively small region. This radiation is recorded as occasional bursts of energy. The bursts are quick indicating that they are traversing across a small region of the total galaxy.

Astronomers have discovered that Seyferts are usually identified with the presence of supermassive black holes embedded in their central core. These huge black holes often are found to contain millions of times the mass of our own sun.

To some extent, Seyferts are sort of the weaker cousins of a more powerful radiation signal that comes from the core of distant galaxies called a "quasar." Both the quasar and the Seyfert are sending out a profuse amount of radiation into space.

As we mentioned, the Dancer lies well down in the southern skies at a declination of -59 degrees. Its distance has been a subject of debate among astronomers, but the most generally accepted number would seem to place it about 38 million light years from earth.

NGC 1566 displays two very dominant spiral arms. They are pretty uniform in appearance, displaying little sign of being disrupted by the forces of passing galaxies. This is interesting in itself because the Dorado Group of galaxies, that the Dancer dominates, is one of the richest groups of galaxies in the Southern Hemisphere. Perhaps the arms will have a more distorted look in the future when the Dorado Group's gravitational attraction brings its members closer together, causing interactions between them.

Note the small blotches of blue and pink scattered across both arms. The blue marks the presence of young, very hot Type O and B stars. The pink blotches are the "nurseries" where brand new stars will be born to populate the galaxy, increasing its overall stellar count.

Why is it called "The Spanish Dancer"? The name comes from its swirling appearance, which is combined with its faint, outer section which seems to billow around its body like a great skirt. The specific kind of Spanish music this beautiful galaxy is dancing to is left to your imagination. Perhaps the Fandango?

And yes, its shape bears a resemblance to another tempestuous female that just went through Naples called Irma.

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Ted is a member of the Everglades Astronomical Society. Organized in 1981 it serves the Naples community, providing information in all aspects of amateur astronomy. Its goals include educating the general public, school children and other groups to the wonders of the universe. The society meets at 7 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at the Norris Center (public invited). Regular viewing visits to a special, dark sky site in the Everglades are held each month, allowing the general public to observe the night sky through telescopes, under pristine conditions. For more information, visit the website at http://naples.net/clubs/eas. A Blu-ray disc for viewing on TV is now available which features 70 of Ted's deep space images with original background music. For more information, go to www.naples.net/clubs/eas/sales.html.